Mind the gap

"Mind the gap" is an audible or visual warning phrase issued to rail passengers in the UK (and elsewhere) to take caution while crossing the horizontal, and in some cases vertical, spatial gap between the train door and the station platform.

The phrase was first introduced in 1969 on the London Underground in the United Kingdom. The phrase is also associated with souvenir T-shirts that Transport for London sells, featuring the warning printed over the network's roundel logo.

Origin of the phrase

The phrase "Mind the gap" was coined in around 1968 for a planned automated announcement, after it had become impractical for drivers and station attendants to warn passengers. London Underground chose digital recording using solid state equipment with no moving parts. As data storage capacity was expensive, the phrase had to be short. A concise warning was also easier to paint onto the platform.

The equipment was supplied by AEG Telefunken. According to the Independent on Sunday, sound engineer Peter Lodge, who owned Redan Recorders in Bayswater, working with a Scottish Telefunken engineer, recorded an actor reading "Mind the gap" and "Stand clear of the doors please", but the actor insisted on royalties and the phrases had to be re-recorded. Lodge read the phrases to line up the recording equipment for level and those were used.

Mind the gap (disambiguation)

Mind the gap is a common safety announcement on the London Underground railway system, warning of a gap between the platform and train.

Mind the gap may also refer to:

Entertainment

Music

Mind the Gap (song)

"Mind the Gap" is a song by Danish singer Nabiha, released as the lead single from her second studio album of the same name. She wrote it with Michelle Escoffery, Carl Ryden and Will Simms. The name was inspired from warning signs on the London Underground station, while it also refers to the gap between her front teeth, meaning good luck. The song has been a hit on various charts in UK. Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary, and has also been positively received by music critics.

Background and composition

"Mind the Gap" was written by Nabiha, Michelle Escoffery, Carl Ryden, and Will Simms, with both Ryden and Simms handling production of the song. The entire song was recorded, produced and mixed by Ryden at Make Music Studio in London, and was mastered at Metroplis in London. The track was released as the lead single of her second studio album of the same name, where it is the third track, on 10 September 2012.

"Mind the Gap" is a funky soul pop song that plays for a duration of 2 minutes and 46 seconds.Instrumentation includes lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, guitar, and programmed drums. The backing vocalist for the song was Terri Walker. The title and concept of the song came from seeing warnings at the London Underground station on numerous trips to the studio, which read "Mind the Gap". It also comes from the space between her front teeth, and her experience with other people looking at her. According to Nabiha, "It is a huge part of me, and in many African countries it symbolizes ‘good luck’. So the message is that we must take care of each other and ourselves, so everybody arrives safely to their destination."